Girl Scouts and the Salvation Army are teaming up to make sure every child has a special day

HAMPTON— Eight families will be able to give their children birthday parties this year, thanks to the Girl Scouts and the Salvation Army in Hampton.

So far, more than 101 birthday bags, which include cake mix and frosting, balloons, plates and napkins, along with other party essentials, have been assembled by seven different scout troops in Hampton, and other volunteers in the community.

"Everyone tends to think of the holidays, like Christmas," said Nicole Quigley, Daisy Troop 1169 leader. "But everyone also has a birthday, and these tend to be forgotten. When the children's families can't afford it, they don't celebrate their birthday."

The scouts are hoping their efforts to reach out to families living in a hotel through the Salvation Army's shelter program will help reassure children and their families that people still care, and they can still have their own special day.

"These eight families and 24 individuals are no longer in their homes because they've lost everything to a fire or other disaster, but the children can still have their own day to celebrate," said Stephanie Romett, volunteer coordinator and public relations spokesperson for the Salvation Army in Hampton.

"Every child deserves a birthday," Romett said.

The Salvation Army paired up with the Girl Scouts in Hampton after working with them on other community service projects.

"We started brainstorming together on the birthday bags after working together at Christmas on stockings for families here at the Salvation Army," Quigley said.

"It's bad enough that these children can't be in their homes, the places they've grown up in, for their birthday, but then to not be able to afford to even have a party at all, makes their situation even worse," Romett said.

After all of the items have been collected and assembled into bags on Saturday at 1 p.m., the Salvation Army and Girl Scouts plan on holding a celebration at the hotel where the children and their families live, so they can personally hand them out.

"Once we've given out all of the bags to those families, we plan on giving the remaining ones to families that call us on a daily basis asking for help with food for their families," said Romett. "Our whole goal is to reassure these families that things will eventually work out for them."